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The Covid edition
Jon-Paul Hale

The Covid edition

The future is bright for those focused on the right outcomes for clients says Jon-Paul Hale.

Fri, May 29th 2020 10:36AM
Good customer outcomes, where did this term come from?

Good customer outcomes, where did this term come from?

5 min read
Health system not helping income protection claims

Health system not helping income protection claims

4 min read
Immigrants have differing view of income protection

Immigrants have differing view of income protection

3 min read
Income protection sustainable or just more noise?

The future of income protection insurance is likely to come under more scrutiny this year. In the first of a four-part series Jon-Paul Hale takes aim at some claims made by Partners Life.
3 min read
Income protection sustainable or just more noise?
My wildly unhelpful prediction …

I said to a colleague about two months ago that based on the 2010 change, 90% of advisers will miss the June 2020 deadline. They disagreed – they may well be right – I hope they are.
6 min read
My wildly unhelpful prediction …
Policy ownership, a simple concept?

It seems it's not. And given the time and dialogue, I need to name names on this issue.
6 min read
Policy ownership, a simple concept?
As confusion reigns and opinions are strong, is it all a bit much?

There are so many options for advisers under the new regime; licensing, coming under a licence, packing it in, or working for a bank or insurer. Jon-Paul Hale says the answer is quite simple.
8 min read
As confusion reigns and opinions are strong, is it all a bit much?
What is the advice risk?

You could be forgiven for keeping your head down, servicing clients and paying the bills. And frankly, we all need to be doing that.
7 min read
What is the advice risk?
To FAP or not to FAP, that is the question

There is plenty of ongoing discussion in the market around this question but should we also be asking – who owns the clients?
5 min read
To FAP or not to FAP, that is the question
The willful ignorance of a miopic point of view

Sounds angry and somewhat is. It comes from constantly being told that commission-based sales people, especially life insurance advisers, are bottom-feeding scum of the earth.
4 min read
The willful ignorance of a miopic point of view
More work needs to be done on policy ownership

Getting the ownership of life insurance policies right is critical; but one bank has no idea,  Jon-Paul Hale says.
4 min read
More work needs to be done on policy ownership
Chicken Little and the falling sky

It’s been said to me before, J-P how about looking at the glass being half full? Funny thing is the human brain is naturally a bit pessimistic, 60/40% if the studies I’ve read on the subject are right.
6 min read
Chicken Little and the falling sky
Southern Cross – service or not?

Jon-Paul Hale gives his take on what Southern Cross's change to trail commissions means for advisers.
5 min read
Southern Cross – service or not?
Ideal client outcomes

There seems to be a renewed amount of noise on what an ideal client outcome looks like. And to be frank, I haven’t seen or heard a definition of one that is clear, concise, and simple.
6 min read
Ideal client outcomes
Consumer and its misguided approach

Does the recent insurance market survey paint an accurate picture of consumer opinion?
4 min read
Consumer and its misguided approach
Churn keeps coming up in discussions, everywhere. In the insurers, with advisers, and with regulators.

Churn: The movement of cover form one provider to another for the sole benefit of the adviser and what they earn
6 min read
Churn keeps coming up in discussions, everywhere. In the insurers, with advisers, and with regulators.
Conduct and culture, the bits we should be talking about

From the comments around the industry in the last couple of weeks, the commission thing has been and has always been a red herring.
7 min read
Conduct and culture, the bits we should be talking about
Chatter about churn and commission

Given the latest chatter about commission, I thought dusting this off was appropriate now.
5 min read
Chatter about churn and commission
Commission: The gun that needs to be in the right hands

Commission, it's like a gun, it's neither good nor evil until it is put in the hands of a human.
8 min read
Commission: The gun that needs to be in the right hands

Jon-Paul Hale

Stories written by multiple reporters.

Followers will be emailed articles by Jon-Paul Hale

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Latest Comments
Political parties given outline of KiwiSaver 2.0
$5000 for each child and $100 matching top-ups, in other words, taxpayers' contribution required, right? wouldn't it be more effective to teach kids to learn how to save? and what is opportunity cost mean?
1 month ago W K
Where to for mortgage advisers?
Mr. Cunningham comments that the value of trail books have limited to 0 value for a critical perspective and no one is going to buy a mortgage advice business if it only has a customer list, but if that customer list or database is already owned by a dealer group or on a dealer groups CRM the advisor does not own that information anyway so they don't actually even have a client list to sell, and if that dealer group has their own branded advisers Wouldn't the customer list be given to them to farm.
1 month ago Valkyrie Vulcan
Where to for mortgage advisers?
Westpac remains the only bank of the big four that has chosen to ignore the Commerce Commission’s directive issued last year about adviser clawbacks. These clawbacks, currently 100% at 14 months and 50% at 28 months, have been deemed by the Commerce Commission to hinder those clients changing lenders seeking a better deal on their home loan. Westpac told advisers last year their remuneration model was changing to better align with customer outcomes and regulatory expectations. Why then have they not also changed their clawback policy on adviser commissions? As someone else has pointed out above our head groups are no longer our advocates as they have done nothing to confront Westpac about this. Isn’t the whole point of the aggregator model to fight for your members? I don’t know about other advisers but aside from existing Westpac customers who need to rely on the first home loan scheme to secure a first home it’s increasing hard nowadays to recommend Westpac to anybody else. Westpac’s extra repayment policy is useless, they are frequently uncompetitive with interest rates for existing customers and yet they appear incapable of understanding why they don’t rank as number 1 or 2 currently on advisers list as a good bank for customers to have their home loan with. I think the above will be even more the case after midway through this year. As somebody said to me at a conference a few weeks back, what possible incentive do mortgage advisers have to keep their customers with Westpac from the 2nd of June?
1 month ago Steve Thomson
Where to for mortgage advisers?
Although the FMA was involved in subsequently setting up the CoFI principles it’s obvious from their subsequent lack of enforcement that the law might as well not have been introduced in the first place. I mention the elephant in the room i.e. the introduction of bank rate cards for mortgage advisers but advisers having no current ability to guarantee/hold these interest rates for their customers. This means they don’t now have time to make an informed financial decision. By comparison, all front-line lenders at the banks apparently quoting from the same rate card can guarantee these rates are held for 1-2 business days minimum. This applies to both new loans and those loans been refixed, although the banks are now obviously pushing customers to refix online which is another subject for a different day. There is an work-around available to the above however that such a discrepancy exists today looks like an attempt by banks to discourage customers from using the adviser channel which I am sure if the Commerce Commission got involved now would constitute a clear breach of consumer law. That we work in an “advice orientated” industry which instead seems to be working against customers who choose to use a mortgage adviser is absolutely appalling. All the regulatory changes that have been introduced in the last few years essentially count for nothing if banks can be allowed to get away with the above. The FMA as a taxpayer funded government agency appears incapable or unwilling to enforce a law change introduced by Parliament. This pretty much sums up the current state of the Wellington public service which the Public Service Commissioner has previously said is no longer fit for purpose saying it needs to be overhauled. Where you might ask are the supposed advocates for the mortgage adviser industry on the above aka the aggregators and associations? You guessed it. Missing in action again… What a surprise.
1 month ago Simon Rule
Removing FBT on insurance would cut premiums, FSC says
JPHale, minimum number for concessions is 15, but discounts off the retail premium apply from 5 employees up. The govt could at least look to bring the FBT rate in line with personal income tax rates. Most I see have an FBT rate over 60%. And the government collects GST on the premium as well. Agree all medical insurance premiums should be tax deductible.
1 month ago Peter Wilkening